After 3 years of trying to enjoy our camping trips in our 16' Bambi, we finally traded it in on an 18' Eco ..... reasons:
1. poor workmanship on trailer (after 4 years we still found shavings and metal filings everytime we used the trailer)
2. Corrosion (door handles, door hinges, rear bumper and some body parts are corroding ..... license plate light and tail light frames are rusting). This trailer has been cleaned and "walbernized" regularly. Quit bragging about Airstream .... a plain old fiberglass trailer will hold up better than this !!!! I know, I had one for 9 years before we fell for this "cute trailer".
3. Bed ... less than a standard "double bed" made sleeping difficult at best.
4. 20 gallon water and 20 gallon combined black/grey water tanks don't support "boondocking" very well.
5. constant drain on batteries by ???? We had a solar system installed and that helped as the trailer was always ready to go but once camping the battery was low every night.
6. Poor to non-existent dealer support.
7. Refrigerator too small and barely worked due to poor heat venting in the rear. We added 3 small, low amp computer fans in the back but that hardly made a difference.
Too bad as the Bambi was cute but basically an very expensive, non functional camping trailer.
Too bad. My 79 Argosy that I just bought has no rust anywhere save a little on the inside bumper and a bit on the frame. Service from AS in Jackson Center and else where have been super. I wonder how many non AS are as good as this after 30 years.
__________________ Dan in Mississippi, formerly of Ohio, New Hampshire, Alaska, New York and New Guinea...among others.....
From Paul Theroux: ..the difference between a traveler and a tourist is.."travelers don't know where they're going, and tourists don't know where they've been"
Still having fun in my 1978 Argosy and 1976 Airstream, after all these years. I know things are not built as well now as they once were; however, I think that probably goes for SOBs too. I know there are well made SOBs out there, just as I know there are well made Chevys, Chryslers and Fords. I have a Toyota and I love it. My husband won't drive anything but a Ford. However, I will remain an Airstream lover no matter what we pull it with or what anyone else experiences with their trailer. No company stays in business for all these years while making trash. Not many companies have a great percentage of what they've made still on the road. Sorry for your bad experience. I know we all hope you find your camping enjoyment with your new purchase. After all, camping and having fun is what it's all about.
__________________ Judy and Bob
At Home in Oklahoma
When my house was remodeled I found sawdust in the oddest places for a shockingly long time. I did not view that as poor workmanship, rather the natural result of a great deal of sawdust blowing around during construction.
My over 30 year old Overlander is covered with dull spots and duller spots. I suppose this is corrosion. It is however also quite strong. I've accidentally put my hand through fiberglass much less than 30 years old, give me corroded aluminum any day.
Small Airstreams contain small beds, larger Airstreams larger beds. I presume the same holds true for tanks and refrigerators.
Batteries are drained through use, conservation, or the use of larger/better batteries will give longer periods of potential use.
Admittedly I've not had occasion to use an Airstream dealers service department, so can not comment upon that.
I do not intend to come across as ornery in my post, but it sounds to me as if the dissatisfaction with the Airstream was because too small of Airstream to fit your needs was chosen, as opposed to an inherent problem with the product itself.
__________________
Cameron Bailey
1973 Overlander WBCCI Marketing Committee
Washington Unit, VAC www.silverlandyacht.com
Nicely said 2Air and to ericinrb, I'm sorry to hear you had such a poor experience. It sounds similar to Harley Davidson ownership. Some people buy the icon of the Harley and some people buy the durability of the Honda. The Harley experience just wasn't for you.
Hey- I'm with you- I look at the crappy workmanship on the new rigs and lol.Just read some of the bitchin on the forum. My view always manages to tweak some here. It's just a drain pipe on wheels!!
anything less than 22 feet is a joke no matter what it's made of.
I like fiberglass, carbon even more, lasts a lot longer than the old sheeted sob,s.
Heck you can buy a new glass rig every 5 years and save more than owning a new pita airstream
I really like my older Airstreams- I do- very nice drain pipes, very nice indeed.
Nicely said 2Air and to ericinrb, I'm sorry to hear you had such a poor experience. It sounds similar to Harley Davidson ownership. Some people buy the icon of the Harley and some people buy the durability of the Honda. The Harley experience just wasn't for you.
Only error in your analogy is that Harley is still an Icon...but they also have improved their reliability up to par with the rest...appears AS has not...Tom R
Well said 2air. The workmanship could be better considering the cost and Airstream is light years behind the Europeans in interior design and layout. There's still a lot to like about them but they are not the pinnacle of travel trailers like some gushing fans would have us believe ....but it's pretty good for production work. To get truly top quality I guess you'd have to take a shell and do it yourself.
Garfield, I agree with you on everything except this point:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Garfield
poor dealer support is unfortunate, but not really the fault of Airstream
I think Airstream (and any company that has resellers, partners or representatives) must keep repair and cust svc. at whatever level of excellence they'd like to be associated with. And if a dealer isn't holding up that standard... yank 'em!
I'm no business major, but if most people deal with the Airstream brand through authorized dealerships, then Jackson Center must do whatever it takes to make sure those dealers are keeping the coaches clean and prepped in the showroom, repaired quickly and correctly when problems arise, and that customers are treated in a way that befits a 75 year old leader in their industry... and cultural icon.
Don't mean to pounce on you... guess I got on a roll.
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